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AIRS

Overview

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, AIRS, is a facility instrument whose goal is to support climate research and improve weather forecasting. Launched into Earth orbit on May 4, 2002 aboard NASA's Aqua satellite, AIRS moves climate research and weather prediction into the 21st century. AIRS is one of six instruments onboard Aqua, which is part of NASA's Earth Observing System of satellites.

AIRS/AMSU/HSB observes and characterizes the entire atmospheric column from the surface to the top of the atmosphere in terms of surface emissivity and temperature, atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles, cloud amount and height, and the spectral outgoing infrared radiation. These data and scientific investigations will answer long-standing questions about the exchange and transformation of energy and radiation in the atmosphere and at Earth's surface.

Latest Updates

NASA's Aqua satellite flew over Hurricane Michael on October 8, 2018 at 2:47 p.m. EDT (1847 UTC). The NASA AIRS instrument captured Hurricane Michael's strongest storms. AIRS also captured a thick band of storms feeding into the center from the eastern quadrant. In those areas cloud top temperatures as cold as -63 degrees Fahrenheit were found. Storms with cloud top temperatures this low have the capability to produce heavy rainfall.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, AIRS, is a facility instrument whose goal is to support climate research and improve weather forecasting. Launched into Earth orbit on May 4, 2002 aboard NASA's Aqua satellite, AIRS moves climate research and weather prediction into the 21st century. AIRS is one of six instruments onboard Aqua, which is part of NASA's Earth Observing System of satellites.
This image, taken at 1:35 pm local time on Tuesday, September 11, 2018 by the Atmospheric Infrared...

Examples of Ambae data products from the AIRS Rapid Response Website at JPL. This site, currently under development, contains data products generated automatically for AIRS granules, or scenes.
The AIRS Rapid Response products may be used to track the dispersion of SO2 (Image 1) and ash clouds (Image 2) following an explosive volcanic eruption. The cloud cover product (Image 3) is an aid to interpreting the SO2 and ash detection products. The cloud cover was dense, with a tropical cyclone developing off the coast of Australia. The apparent lack of ash, relative to the presence...

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments on NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites acquired this image of the ash plume at 11:45 a.m. Alaska time (21:45 Universal Time) on March 28, 2016.
In late March 2016, Pavlof volcano on the Alaskan Peninsula began erupting again for the first time since November 2014. Alaska’s most active volcano has erupted six times since 1996 and 21 times in the past 50 years....